The day went by slowly, I was left in the room the entire day. Answering whatever questions Rosa asked. She was comfortable after she thought we weren't kidnapped by bad men but was at Giovanni's place. Someone only came up to bring us food and water. I didn't mind at all. It was a very lovely room painted yellow and when the sun peeked through the golden sheer curtains, it made everything golden. Rosa really loved it.
I sat by the window reading the novel I bought at the fair and Rosa stayed playing with the dollhouse I bought her. "Mommy, when will daddy come play with me?" She sighed. I felt hurt that she was willing to spend more time with him but afraid that would be difficult. Before I could answer, there was a knock on the door. I got off the stool and rushed to respond to this person. I flung it open and was disappointed. I really hoped that it would be Giovanni.
"Good afternoon ma'am, I brought you lunch." She walked in, setting everything down on the desk. "Oh yes before I forget, you'll be eating dinner at the dining table tonight with the boss." She continued. "Giana will be up to get you ready at six."
"I'm sorry but I can get myself ready." I spoke. Why would Giovanni want someone to look after me? I'm an adult and I can take care of myself. I've told him this.
"I'm just following orders and if you don't agree with anything I'm saying to you, try talking to the boss on your own and we both know it won't be anything close to nice." She rudely interrupted. I was aghast. I gritted my teeth and curled my fingers into a fist.
"Get the fuck out." I harshly pushed her out of the room, slamming the door shut. Stupid old hag.
"Is everything okay mommy?" Rosa rushed out from the bathroom.
"Everything's fine angela." I walked towards the desk where this maid placed our food.
Whilst eating, I prayed that this maid wouldn't come back up here to collect the dirty dishes because if she said anything rude to me I wouldn't hesitate to hit her in her pretty little face.
"We're seeing daddy tonight?" Rosa asked. I could hear the excitement in her.
"Yes and we get to dress like princesses." I smiled at her. "Come here, let's go take a shower." I grabbed her gently off the stool and rushed to the bathroom. We fell on the floor laughing. My heart started melting but something or someone else is missing.
"I love you." Rosa kissed my nose. I pulled her closer to my body and held her in a warm embrace.
After taking a shower we laid on the bed for a nap but I couldn't fall asleep. I didn't know what the matter was. Instead I chatted with Leonardo. It was two in the afternoon and I thought why not and just my luck he got from work an hour ago. We stayed there texting each other and like yesterday laughed at silly jokes.
"When can I see you?" He asked the question. I didn't know how I would get out of this place to see him. Giovanni will never allow this to happen.
"Well the thing is, my brother would be following me wherever I go." I awkwardly said whilst typing the text in. 'Maybe if I'm sleek enough I can get away from him.' I continued. It felt wrong saying that Giovanni is my brother but what more can I say? That he is in the mafia?
'Good luck with that.' He replied. I couldn't tell if he was content with my response or dissatisfied.
"Got to go, Leonardo. Call me tonight at nine." I said and shut down the phone. The footsteps finally stopped at the door and someone knocked then entered.
"Good evening ma'am. I'm Giana and here to help you get ready for dinner with the boss." She smiled. The dresses which hung on the rack looked very sexy but were only in black and red.
"Is everything only in those colors?" I raised an eyebrow. I noticed that their outfits were also in black.
"Yes ma'am." I am sick and tired of being called ma'am. It made me feel very uncomfortable but anything I say won't make a difference."You can go ahead and pick any one of those and a shoe to match it." She added. "Jewelry is in this box and makeup in this one." One dress caught my attention. It was a long black dress with a high slit with one long sleeve.
"This would fit perfectly and I'll have these shoes."
"I bet it would." She replied. She was way nicer than the first woman. "Someone will be up to look after Rosa so no need to worry. I'll be back at five fifty to get you." Rosa won't be going. She'd been sleeping and Giana didn't want to wake her up. The palm of my hands were sweaty as I started getting dressed. What did Giovanni want to discuss at the dinner table? I put on some jewelry and a little bit of lip gloss. Why did it matter how I presented myself? It's not like he hasn't seen me without makeup. "Are you done?" Giana knocked as I quickly put on the heels.
"I'll be out." I called out to her. I slowly opened the door and was nervous all over again. The other maids who worked on the floor where I stood, whispered among themselves. We made our way down the staircase and down the hallway, entering a massive dining room where a variety of foods were on the table almost like a thanksgiving dinner table. I spotted Giovanni on the far end looking at his phone.
The SOB didn't even realize that I walked in. Giana pulled my chair out and nodded before leaving.
"Looking beautiful as always babe." He looked up. He didn't even see my full body, this man. I stared blankly at him. "You know why we're having this dinner alone? Do you?" He questioned. Again no expression from me. "Irina open this fucking mouth of yours and say something." He scolded.
What the fuck? No way he did not.
"Watch how you fucking speak to me. I'm not the soft woman you used a year ago Giovanni." I shrugged. I couldn't give two fucks how I spoke to him, he will learn to accept it. He rubbed his temples as if agreeing to what I said to him.
"Irina, just listen for once." He scoffed. The waiter then came in to pour wine into our glasses. "You realize we're not in the same location right?" He asked. I helped myself to some sfogliatelle and looked up at him.
"Yes and why is that?" I took a bite of the fine pastry.
"So that I would be closer to you." He casually sipped his wine. "I've been watching your every move, dolcezza. Don't think I would not look out for what is mine." There it is again, him calling me his.
"I'm not yours." I said coldly. "You need to stop saying that and respect me."
"What I did was wrong. I shouldn't have let you go after I found out Alexander was alive." He suddenly coughed like he didn't mean to say that.
"You knew he was alive and you kept it away from me Gonzalez." I surprisingly laughed. This bastard. "We promised no more secrets but clearly your fucking pretty brain didn't comprehend that."
"Irina, I waited for the right time to let you know but everything was going perfect and I didn't want to spoil this for you." He pleaded.
"Spoil what Giovanni?" I lashed at him. "What is more important than me staying alive, I should have picked that gun up that night and end your fucking life."
"You did not do it because you couldn't." We stayed there in complete silence. He was right. I couldn't do it and wouldn't. I looked down at my glass and shoved the wine down my throat. He was getting to me, he shouldn't.
"Where is Olivia?" I asked. I hope she can forgive me for leaving and not saying goodbye.
"With Micah at the other house. Not to forget they got married four months ago." Married?
"S-she got married and I didn't know." I whispered to myself. I feel so stupid.
"She is in business with me as well, a spy. As for Micah, he has always been taking care of the clubs and cleaning money." He smirked. Was he laughing at me right now? I always believed Micah was out of it but he wasn't. They all hid this from me. Not to mention Olivia as a spy. "If you're wondering if Olivia hates you, she doesn't. I spoke with her and she understood." How did he know what I was thinking? She doesn't hate me and she understands? What words did this bastard feed her with? "Anything you want to say?" He poured himself a glass of whiskey then gulped it all down.
"Fuck you." I blurted. He slammed his glass down and I gulped. He stared into my soul and I stared back. I wanted to fight this man.
"So tell me." He poured himself another glass of whiskey. "Who's your friend, you've been talking to?" I gulped and ate another sfogliatelle.
"What friend?" I asked with a mouth full.
"Don't act like you don't know, Irina. Looks like you enjoy talking to him." He's talking about Leonardo but he can't know it's him.
"Someone I met at the supermarket and why do you care?" I rolled my eyes. I see his jaw tighten then he releases it. Am I really lying to him? He knows because I'm fidgeting with my fingers.
"Something wrong with your fingers?" He scoffed. "Irina, you never did the shopping when you left. Piero did that. You stop lying to me. This better not be the guy at the fair." He raised his glass then gulped the alcohol down. What did I get myself into? "Oh last thing, I'm your brother?" He laughed. "This guy must mean something to you, I see." He laughed. "Better not get him." He stopped laughing, a serious expression appearing on his face.
He will kill Leonardo, I mustn't let that happen.
"He's no one Giovanni and we're just friends so there's no reason for you to hurt him." I gritted my teeth. It was him at the door last night, I got carried away which is why I didn't hear him walking towards and leaving the room.
"I'm not going to stop you from talking to your friend. He's just a friend after all." He smirked. He's lying, he will hurt Leonardo which means I need to talk to him without any suspicions. There's no one else to talk to here.
"Just a friend." I eyed him, sitting back in my seat.
"Now you're here with me baby. I need to know that you're capable of running this business with me. You get your own office and get to order people around here with me." He said. I opened my eyes wide like I just saw a ghost. Me? Irina Inessa Smirnov, I refuse.
"I'm not doing it Giovanni. I'm not doing anything for you or with you. Let me go by tomorrow and everything will be normal. Alexander is dead." I got ready to leave, pushing my chair in, I turned around. I heard him get on his feet and walk fastly after me.
"Irina, don't you dare walk away from me." He scolded and my feet obeyed him. I stopped. I bit into my lip as I didn't want to shed any tears. This was a lot of information to take in tonight. I felt his hands snake around my waist. "I need to show you the place, baby." He whispered in my ear, making me gently pull my head away from his. I won't allow him to do this to me.
We walked for several minutes until he opened a door with my name written in bold letters. We entered and I fell in love. The room was white with brown wooden floors. On my left was a shelf filled with books. I love reading. The ceiling didn't fail to disappoint either, it was brown in color to match the floors. There was a large window on my right with white sheer curtains. "This is your office." He broke the silence. I quickly smiled but hid it but somehow Giovanni still saw because he burst into laughter. "Do you like it?" He moved to the side. I nodded and he smiled. "Follow me." He walked to a corner and revealed a black door. "Ladies first." He said and opened it. Another office completely different from mine. "This is mine." He smirked. It was mostly black with little white. He had no curtains and a waterfall could be seen in the far distance. There was also a garden.
"Why is it connected to mine?" I cocked my head to the side. He pouted his lips together before speaking.
"We work together so it's best." He shyly smiled. We left through his door and he faced me. "I hope you forgive me for what I did, baby." He cupped my cheeks into his hands. I'm trying not to but that's impossible. "Rosa is going to have her own room and you get to stay in the one you're in right now." He stared into my eyes. No, I can't give in to him.
I removed myself from him and nodded. "Baby please say something." He whispered. He pulled me back into his arms about to kiss me.
"I should get going, Giovanni. I'm tired." I turned my head away from his. He sniffed my hair and held me tighter in his arms.
"Princess, please forgive me." He whispered, one I could barely make out.
"Giovanni, don't." I blurted out, a tear rolling down my cheek. Can I forgive this man? Who made me feel a different kind of pain. He hurt me, he broke me now he wants me to forgive him just like that. I pulled myself away from him and quickly wiped my face. He couldn't say a simple I'm sorry but wants me to forgive him.
"I'll walk you to your room." He said and I followed. We said goodnight and I thanked him for dinner. It didn't take long for Leonardo to call me. I had just gotten out of the bathroom and got comfortable in bed.
"Hey darling." He greeted me. This felt so wrong, I don't want Leonardo to get hurt because of me. I need to speak as quietly as possible. We spoke for some time and he asked the question again. I knew he would. "When will I see you again?" We saw each other two days ago and he already wants to meet.
"Leonardo, we can't." I whispered. "It's more complicated than it is." I sighed.
"Is he holding you back from everything else? This is bad when I look at it." He said, trying not to sound angry. "Can I help you in any way?" He continued. He couldn't and he shouldn't even try.
"I'm fine Leonardo and no, you shouldn't help me." I smiled, knowing this guy is willing to help me.
"Whatever you say darling." He continued. "How have you been lately?" We spoke for four hours again but this time I was discreet and no one stopped by this time. We didn't share any jokes, rather we spoke about life. What we all expected in life and how it's treated us lately.
"It's nice talking to you again Leonardo." I said with teary eyes.
"I'm always there darling, call you tomorrow. Goodnight." I curled into the sheets and started sobbing. I can't live like this but Rosa just reunited with Giovanni and I wouldn't take her away from him. I should stop crying and be comfortable around here. He gave me my own office and as much as I didn't want to have anything to do with it, I can at least do some research on my own.
I am here hoping Rosa is fine sleeping on her own and me not reading her a bedtime story. Sleep consumed me, something I needed.